Does your brand invoke what you’re intending?

04 Mar Does your brand invoke what you’re intending?

When someone mentions “branding” the first thing that may come to mind is clothing. Why? Well, because as a culture we tend to judge by appearance first. This isn’t to say that we aren’t open to getting to know someone for the person they are, it’s just that their appearance is the first thing we see. The same can be said for business branding.

Think of your brand as clothing that you are wearing in the digital world. What does it say about you and who are you attracting with it?

As I mentioned before, it’s imperative that you get out there and mingle to meet your ideal customer. They need to get to know the real you. Your brand needs to speak to the authentic you, the person that your friends and family love to be around. If you’re the life of the party, your brand should be just as bold and brilliant as you are!
If those who know you best looked at your brand and had to describe it in three words, would those same three words describe you? If not then it’s time to look at your “digital clothing” and see what image you’re truly conveying.

It’s important to understand that your brand is more than just your logo. Logos are great but in keeping with the digital clothing analogy, a logo is more like your favourite accessory that finishes off your look, not what your brand is built from.

Your brand should paint the picture of your lifestyle. It should scream from the highest mountaintop who you are at your very core. Too often we think that our brand has to be simple and elegant (like so many that are) and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it speaks to them and not necessarily who YOU uniquely are.

Imagine if everyone you met on the street was dressed exactly the same. You’d have no way to know who you’d like to meet because they’d all be dressed alike, there would be no clues as to what their personality was like. What a boring world that would be!

Now imagine in that crowd you found one person who dressed as THEY saw fit. You’d be instantly drawn to that person because they took the time to express themselves authentically. That’s the person you should aim to be in the online marketing world. Contrary to what may be “in” or popular, you should always be YOU in whatever fabulous form that takes. As the saying goes “Let your freak flag fly!”.

Maybe you like bold colours and crazy fonts, maybe you like soft colours and florals. Great! Your brand is your chance to say to the world “This is me, I’m freaking awesome and we should totally work together!”. Your brand should express who you see yourself as, not who you think they want to see. If you copy everyone else’s view of who you think they want to see then you’ll attract the wrong people. You don’t want clients who want “them” you want clients who want YOU.

So what if you have no idea what your brand is? Well, who are you? Take some time to think about this. Are you a farm girl who loves nothing more than to tend to the pigs and go four wheeling on the weekends? Maybe you’re the sophisticated martini cocktail city type who loves clean lines and a modern décor. Both of these can be incorporated into brands that attract their ideal customer by simply expressing themselves without shame.

The world is full of copycats, don’t get sucked into being one of them.

So what if you aren’t everyone’s cup of tea! News flash, what some may see as a hot mess, other’s are seeing as the perfect person to work with.